Othello's Games
by Tigerdust
Summary: Executioner Deirdre was just the beginning. Sequel to Broken Boundaries. Jack and Ianto find themselves in the middle of a deadly game or two. Set to the best songs from the "Phantom of the Opera" not owned by me!
1. Chapter 1

The dreams of the Blue Box had ceased long ago for Jack. His dreams were mostly empty, or dark. The thing he dreamt of most was here with him. The one who seemed to know all the secrets before he said them. The one who understood how he had taken Torchwood Three from nothing and made it what it was a very long time ago. The one who had been hunted, hated, and was now worthy of love.

_Think of me, think of me fondly,  
when we've said goodbye.  
Remember me once in a while -  
please promise me you'll try._

Jack Harkness watched Ianto Jones sleeping on the CCTV footage. His body was often restless in the nights and Ianto understood he didn't sleep as much as humans normally did. The Doctor had taken a few brief moments, after calling him unnatural, to explain that he too would no longer require many hours to be refreshed. He went into a long explanation with many hand gestures as to why. After "absorbing the power of the Time Vortex thanks to Rose", Jack had tuned him out. Anything to do with Rose gleaned into an even longer lecture, usually ending with a fond memory.

_When you find that, once again, you long  
to take your heart back and be free -  
if you ever find a moment,  
spare a thought for me_

He tended to tune in for that part. Jack liked the memories he had with the Doctor and Rose and even caught himself enjoying a few guilty moments as the leader of Torchwood. Often, he would look back on that dingy file in the Archives listing him in the Top Five criminals of the galaxy, just three spaces below the Doctor. All this for being unnatural, immortal, and a just plain oddity. It had taken fifty years of well-spent resources but he had seduced the very first technician of Torchwood, namely one Everest Anders. And Everest, the mountain, not the man, would have been proud.

"What are you thinking of?"

Jack had failed to notice, in all of his daydreaming, that he was absentmindedly holding a file and hadn't looked up to see Ianto no longer sleeping with a slight peace to him.

"How lucky I am."

"I know. To have hair that naturally messy..." Ianto moved away quickly as Jack went to swat him with the manila folder in his hands.

"That's not what I meant. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I was awoken by thirst. Care for a cup of coffee?"

"Sometimes I think I can't love you anymore and then you utter those magic words."

"You mean coffee? Must be the Welsh vowels. Americans go mad for the Welsh vowels."

"I'm not American."

"I know." Ianto with Jack was cheeky and spoke in more veiled whispers than Jack cared to count. They knew each others buttons after such a long time. The only reason they continued to actually talk was that they like each others stories and the sound of the other man's voice. Intelligence and charisma made a perfect pairing.

"You smell like..."

"Soap? Aftershave? Your blessed pheromones?"

"Costa Rican blend."

"You dirty mind, you."

As his hand titled forward, Ianto was dully aware that it was near 3:30 in the morning and he hadn't yet brushed his teeth. Like that would ever stop Captain Jack Harkness from attaining his usual kiss, full of bravado and love. He was even doing it now in front of Gwen. Ianto suspected he was covering his pain in losing Tosh and Owen. The thoughts that ran through his mind mirrored what Ianto had thought in those days he had been trying to save Lisa. The days before Jack saw the ugly side of the loyal young Welshman.

_We never said our love was evergreen,  
or as unchanging as the sea -  
but if you can still remember  
stop and think of me_

Kisses often led to control. Oh, one might think Ianto was Jack's lover and subsequently the "woman" of the relationship, but Ianto often had more control than either he or Jack would acknowledge. He knew every crease of the older man's brow; he knew each breath and where the pattern led. He knew which finger to press into which part of the body. He knew Jack Harkness in ways that, as much as Jack postured, not many had known him. And with a subtle flick of his eyebrow, he could win.

_Think of me, think of me waking,  
silent and resigned.  
Imagine me, trying too hard  
to put you from my mind._

The ground began to shiver and the kiss was broken by Myfanwy shrieking from her nest. She had been gone several days and had just returned from a hunt, in Scotland was Ianto's guess. The shiver turned into a resonating groan throughout the Hub. While the place had been built as an underground train terminal, and had been reinforced several times since against natural and man-made disasters, earthquakes often meant a shift in Rift activity. They hurried to the computers, Ianto and Jack facing each other at two of Tosh's former terminals.

_Recall those days  
look back on all those times,  
think of the things we'll never do -  
there will never be a day,  
when I won't think of you . . ._

"We've got weevil sighting in the Brecon Beacons, Round stone Wood, the factory district, shopping district. Jack, weevils are dropping from the sky like plagues or a bad 80s song!"

"Now, we can't lose our heads just yet. Weevils aren't hard to control. We just have to find that right frequency, enable the weevil whistle, right?"

"I suppose. Lucky for us Tosh had the presence of mind to copy the frequency."

"No, I'm patching through to you what I'm looking at." Ianto flicked on a second screen and gasped as he watched various parts of Cardiff being dissected in various shades of color.

"Jack, it's impossible!"

"No, it's not. Five types of alien ships outside the atmosphere and all with cloaking devices that are setting down Weevils."

"Should we call Gwen?"

"Let her sleep. I'm sending a transmission to the Arken third-class cruiser. Slightly more updated than the last one in our airspace."

"Jack, two have just left or have greater cloaking devices than our systems can manage. I'm initiating the Weevil whistle now."

There was a shudder through the base as the whistle went off and connected to the monolith, reverbing the signal throughout the city. Weevil sightings began to disappear nearly immediately, but a varied few began to resist the signal. Then there was silence and darkness. The power in the Hub was disintegrated, the back-up generator fried.

"What the hell happened?!"

"I don't know. But I'm restoring enough power to relay the Lift up. I'm going to the surface to see what's going on."

"You can't do that."

"Going soft on me, Jack? We're both immortal! What's the worst that could happen? You have a headache for a few days and I lose a pinky?"

"But I like your pinkies."

"Come on." Ianto rolled his eyes as he finished patching in the power. "I've left enough food for you, pet, we'll see you soon! Cheers." He smiled at Myfanwy as she settled in for a snooze.

_Flowers fades,  
The fruits of summer fade,  
They have decisions, so do we  
but please promise me, that sometimes  
you will think of me!_

C/N: I'm not RTD or Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Only you can guess what that means! (that I'm a fanboy, among other things I suppose). Further, this is going to expand the world Executioner Deirdre mentioned in Broken Bridges. (You read Someone and Broken Bridges right?) We're going to get to meet Othello and an old friend might be dropping along the way. All set to the Phantom of the Opera! How awesome is that?


	2. Chapter 2

It was easy to tell how far over Gwen's head this would have gone. Cardiff was dark, even more so in the shadows. Jack didn't often like to show his own hesitation or fear, which is what one does when one is a leader, sacrifice your own feelings for that of the team. Ianto stood next to his Captain and watched a small tremor of shivers, almost unnoticeable, travel from his spine to his throat and back again.

"Surely, it can't be that bad, Jack?"

"Well, it's not all butterflies and Stentorian girls, that's for sure."

"Care to share with the class, Jack?"

"Someday, Ianto." Jack turned to face the younger man holding the torch, briefly allowing his face to be cast into the light. His torch was the only light around them in the narrow alleyway. "Someday, all the wild stories."

It was a chant, a prayer. He wanted Ianto to survive all this to hear the stories. Ever since Bella Rosa had given him hope and something to really live for again, things had gotten worse. Much like Bad Wolf had been written across the pages of time, this storm had begun brewing in Jack's mind.

_Where in the world have you been hiding  
Really, you were perfect  
I only wish I knew your secret  
Who is your great tutor_

He remembered, if only for a fraction of a second, the way Ianto's eyes twitched as he dreamed. Jack felt that same feeling of longing, of wanting to be with him in those dreams. If only for a second, to peek into the loyal and efficient world that Ianto kept harbored to himself, like a fugitive or Jack's past.

_Christine, you must have been dreaming  
Stories like this can't come true  
Christine, you are talking in riddles  
And it's not like you_

It clung to them both, this desperate fear as they crawled along in the dark. The sun had been blotted out by the alien ships, even cloaked they couldn't find technology advanced enough to allow the sunlight to filter through, and somewhere a dog barked. No, he howled. The animals had an unabashed sense of the disturbance, the sheer immensity of it sending them into a frenzy.

All Jack could think of guiltily was how much of his fault this actually was.

Jack felt a strange sense of dejavu as they followed a pair of Weevils, Ianto's torch cast out and his arm linked in the crook of Jack's elbow. It had been this very corridor, that last turn, where Deirdre had began her prophecy of doom and change on both their lives. There was nothing left but to follow the trap to its full extent.

_Angel of Music  
Guide and guardian  
Grant to me your glory_

Ianto wasn't frightened. He believed that he was kept for a variety of reasons from death, and, by virtue of it all, so was Jack. There was something more and something different, something that put them beyond the rest of Torchwood. They were chosen and they were blessed, somehow. No, Ianto's only fear was being without Jack, now that he had forever to be with him.

_Angel of Music  
Hide no longer  
Secret and strange angel_

The Weevils pawed against the bricks of a dead end and Jack's arm swept into past his overcoat into the small space behind a graffiti-lined dumpster. The Weevils seemed bewildered by the wall and they began scratching away with maddened intensity. The concentration of crashing sound between brick and claw made Jack's stomach churn just briefly.

"Jack."

"Not now, Ianto."

"No, Jack. Look."

Jack turned to see Ianto's hands gliding into the wall behind them. He turned, his glance trying to see through the wall itself.

"Move your hand back." Jack hissed the command and Ianto obeyed as though the wall itself was made of acid.

Jack felt blindly for his weapon. He knew it was in the holster. He knew the feel of the steel, knew the taste and grit in his teeth from when he fired it. Jack knew all these things and still he cursed himself for having to use it. It was all very complicated.

"We'll never know just standing out here, sir."

"I don't intend to know what it is until absolutely necessary."

Ianto swiftly peeked his head over the top of the dumpster, using the middle of it for leverage. "I think it's necessary."

Jack didn't hear the phrase from Ianto. More than that, he heard the sound of the Weevils finish their scratching. Sure now that he'd rather face something unknown than a pair of crazed Weevils in the dark, he grabbed Ianto's elbow and flung him into the brick wall. Ianto's slightly confused face merged with the darkness. Jack took a breath and then flung himself through into Ianto's arms.

_In sleep he sang to me  
In dreams he came  
That voice which calls to me and speaks my name  
And do I dream again for now I find  
The Phantom of the Opera is there  
Inside my mind_

Ianto had just barely steading himself against the wall within a wall when Jack came flying through. There was barely a small strip of light, maybe a centimeter across, the moved through the dark corridor. For a brief second, Ianto ceased breathing as he held Jack. Their eyes met, perpetuated by worry and longing to just head home for the night and forget the entire day.

_Sing once again with me  
Our strange duet  
My power over you grows stronger yet  
And though you turn from me to glance behind  
The Phantom of the Opera is there  
Inside your mind_

But they both knew better. Steadily, they began moving forward down the corridor. Their footsteps made small echoes, nothing to worry about. Jack noted the design of the corridor. He vaguely knew of a shipyard architect who excelled at this wiry, minimalist approach. He had dated the man's brother just briefly. He had been rather oafish, but you don't ask when the Time Agency needs someone to do recon. You just move on ahead, even if that means dating someone who ate like a boar and smelled worse than a bear.

The corridor spilled out into a larger corridor. Their feet ceased to echo, the floor carpeted.

"It's a trap, isn't it?"

"If it's not, that I need to find out what Anton has been up to."

"Who?"

"The man who designed this ship. I knew him, or I will know him."

"What amazed me is how ceased to be amazed I am."

Jack turned to face Ianto. "That I knew him?"

"No. That you will, and use can use future tense with such grace."

Jack smiled at Ianto and began to survey the larger corridor. The lighting here was no better, but Jack noticed something decorating the walls and the carpet against his feet. He couldn't guess at the color in the dark, but he made it a lovely magenta for his mind's labeling.

_I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne  
to this kingdom where all must pay homage to music  
music  
You have come here,  
for one purpose, and one alone_

Ianto moved toward the walls, and put out a hand against the gilded square jutting.

"Jack, why would an alien ship have a painting in it?"

"What?"

"It's a masterpiece, Jack. One of Van Gogh's picnic scenes. Very rare as well."

"I feel better. Our captors have a sense of style."

Ianto's eyes leveled on Jack while he tried for another weak smile.

"That's not funny."

"I know, I should probably leave the humor to the professionals."

"We appreciate that."

They moved along the corridor as Ianto continued describing the rare and various pieces of art that decked the walls. This corridor spilled out into a larger ballroom area and Jack's eyebrow's arched in questioning.

_Since the moment I first heard you sing,  
I have needed you with me,  
to serve me, to sing_

The place was tiled, a chandelier visible even in the darkness. It reminded Jack of something he had seen at an old palace near the Kremlin many years ago. It frightened him, the taste was so Earth-based. The gaudiness and showiness of an unimaginable state. A set of stairs ascended upwards into a set of shadows, where Ianto guessed someone was sitting and waiting for them.

_For my music, my music_

As they approached the center of the ballroom, the lights were thrown on them. Jack grabbed for Ianto and then covered his eyes, his retinas seized with the pain from the white intensity.


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing. Nothing greeted them save for the lights coming on. It was a ballroom of immense size. The floors were bathed in tiled marble and decorative columns held their places toward the ceiling. More frescoes lined the walls, however they all seemed to be shrouded in darkness. The air hung around Ianto and Jack. Jack's hand clenched into tense fists, his jaw set. Ianto observed the place, scrutinizing every inch with his eyes.

"The court of an emperor."

"What was that, Ianto?"

"I said the court of an emperor. Just look at the way he directs everything from his throne." His hands moved along the clean lines of the ceiling, snaking in angles toward the entrance and each other. "This room was built as the centerpiece in a monument to him. Whoever him is."

_Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation.  
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination.  
Silently the senses abandon their defences_

Jack's throat went dry. He hadn't wanted to admit it to himself when Ianto had blurted out the phrase. He had noted the way the giant chair worked was of surveying ones kingdom. He did not like it, but he wasn't afraid enough to shudder. They stood their, stoically, trying to think of the best course of action.

"What do you say we check out the chair?" Jack's eyes held a bit of a glint to them.

"Oh, Jack. Not now."

"Why not? For all we know, we've walked into a trap anyways. Let's enjoy ourselves in the meantime, eh?"

Ianto watched Jack begin to ascend the stairs. Jack turned when he found that Ianto wasn't following him. He clutched his hand to his breast and moved his eyes upon the ceiling, trying to contain his giggles at all the silly cherubs painted thereon.

_Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendour.  
Grasp it, sense it tremulous and tender.  
Turn your face away from the garish light of day,  
Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light -  
and listen to the music of the night..._

"Ianto, Ianto, where fore art thou, Ianto?"

Ianto shook his head. "I am the east and Jack is the sun."

He climbed alongside his lover up to the chair and found nothing remarkable about it, save for the size. Jack sat about to investigating the underside of the arm. Ianto found himself amused as Jack checked for buttons to operate, well, anything. If they were there, he found nothing. Ianto folded his arms and looked out over the balcony of the throne. Usually, there were rooms behind the throne, but there was no trick paneling that Ianto could tell. Jack lowered himself onto the throne.

_Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams!  
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before!  
Close your eyes,let your spirit start to soar!  
And you'll live as you've never lived before_

"Ianto, my queen, all this could be yours."

"Who are you calling a queen?"

"And what would you call yourself?"

"If anything, I'm Lancelot and you're Guinevere."

"Is that so?"

Ianto recognized the glint in his eyes and he was sure it was not the best for protocol if they were to fornicate upon the chair of the head of an alien species. But if Jack decided he wanted to fornicate, then he could revert to the status of a cheeky fifteen year-old boy. Which was not something Ianto wanted to deal with particularly under this stress.

_Softly, deftly, music shall caress you  
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you  
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind,  
in this darkness that you know you cannot fight  
the darkness of the music of the night._

"I think we should make our way back to the Hub. You might be able to find out about the layout of the place with your existing knowledge. And I don't really feel that comfortable being on their territory. Whoever they are."

Jack lifted himself from the chair. "Buzz kill."

"Designed to keep you from hangover. At least the wrong kind."

Ianto's eyes must have seen it wrong. As they crossed the large room back to the hallway, Ianto saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the paintings seemed to move. It was only a shadow on a shadow, a mysterious imprint and Ianto didn't want to worry Jack. He often kept to himself like this and was beginning to wonder if he shouldn't mention something when they began to get lost on the way back.

_Let your mind start a journey  
through a strange, new world!  
Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before!  
Let your soul take you where you long to be!  
Only then can you belong to me_

"Ianto, we made two lefts and a right, right?"

"Correct, sir."

"So why is it when we make two rights and a left to retrace our steps that we end up back here?"

"Because this is a trap."

"Ianto, how did you throw your voice like that?"

He responded quietly, the antithesis of the echo. "I didn't, Jack. I didn't say a word."

Jack pressed Ianto against the wall and moved against it himself. Ianto found this silly and precautionary. After all, this was the work of an archaic genius who they couldn't even seem to meet. He was more afraid of what would happen after they had met. And he had good reason to be. Jack began to shout back into the empty ballroom, still lit from within.

_Floating, falling, sweet intoxication!_

"Who are you?!"

"Who do you think I am?"

_Touch me, trust me, savour each sensation!_

"Explain your visit to this planet."

"Why do you think I would come?"

_Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in_

"Are you hostile?!"

"The world is a stage and we are merely players."

_To the power of the music that I write_

Ianto sighed. This was going nowhere. He walked past Jack and into the empty room. The shadows in the pictures were indeed beginning to move, as though someone was moving through them. They were, naturally, moving towards the chair.

_The power of the music of the night_

"Ianto, get back here." Jack hissed so low even Ianto didn't quite hear him.

"Come on, Jack. It's obvious we're going to be caught. I'd rather not waste my time sulking around corners. Good god, man, we're both immortal. We'll deal with him, whoever he is."

"Are you so sure, Mr. Jones?"

The pictures began to light up, one by one. Ianto felt his mouth go dry and a very hesitant Jack joined to his left and just behind.

"We've dealt with worse than a mysterious voice."

"Yes, but you've dealt with nothing like me. Tell me, gentlemen, do you like games?"

"Gin Rummy."

"Those weren't the kind of games I had in mind."

"Who are you?"

"Captain Harkness already knows. Deirdre told him." Ianto glanced to Jack. It was true then. Othello had come. The weevils had been a ruse to move them from the Hub. And it had worked. "I'm surprised at you, Mr. Jones. I took you for the smart one."

"I have my moments. But if you were so smart, you'd know enough to end this silly non-existent feud of yours. We've survived everything we've encountered, worse than you I'd wager."

Jack hissed. "Don't egg him on, Ianto."

"But it's true, Jack."

"Yes, that is true. Colleagues, run of the mill gangsters. You've thumped them all quite soundly and I'm quite proud of you for it. Testing your own mettle before meeting me. Iron against iron. The greatest challenge and the greatest win I have ever pursued. This will be your undoing."

The lights flickered just briefly as he ascended to his throne from the final painting, kept hidden by a shadow. When the lights returned, there he sat. He was taller than the chair at first glance, he sat in a way ungainly for his legs. He had the air of a charlatan and an actor; the swagger of an over-confident Jack on some days. His head cocked and viewed them, as though he'd been watching them through a long range telescope for a thousand years.

Jack found his voice. "So, you are Othello, then?"

Ianto imagined he was smiling. He wore a mask of divided black and white colors, so Ianto assumed all this. He wore black head to toe, with multiple unnecessary zippers everywhere. His gloved hands moved when he spoke as well.

"That is my claim and this is my court. And you, you are now my prisoners. Congratulations gentlemen. Welcome to the belly of the beast."

There was a sound that assaulted them, sending Jack and Ianto quivering to their knees almost instantly. Ianto went to claw his ears but found himself captivated by the features of Othello as he fell. The sound intensified and his vision began to go as screams reverberated through his skull. He did not shout, nor feel Jack near him. He felt alone with the presence, staring at the man who wished to destroy them simply because they were alive.

_You alone can make my song take flight  
Help me make the music of the night_

Ianto blacked out as he felt a hand grab onto his arm. Whether it was Jack's arm or not, he was betting it was not, did not matter. For whatever it was, they would survive. There was no reason to doubt or believe otherwise.


	4. Chapter 4

Ianto felt the strength of the guard under his arm. The man, clad in black leather and mask, was virtually lifting him across the floor. He and Jack were both dead weights in the arms of their captors as the electricity had meant for them to be. So Ianto used his muscles of observation while he watched Jack from the corner of his left eye squirming and trying to bite his lip. Ianto would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been so busy.

It was crucial in these moments to study layouts, hierarchy. To play it by ear would be foolish in an unknown, movable surrounding such as this. Othello was clearly theatrical and clearly a man of grand nature. He had bravado and definite classical taste. The ship was laid out well but it also seemed like a fusion of opera house and Star Trek M-Class vessel. Othello also clearly had a superman complex. But those were less easily exploited.

_No more talk of darkness,  
Forget these wide-eyed fears  
I'm here, nothing can harm you  
my words will warm and calm you_

Ianto and Jack joined the collection of captured creatures with a gruff shove and a grunted welcome home from the anonymous guard. As the door gave a resounding clang and Ianto gave himself a moment to adjust to the dimly-lit room. He focused on the sound of Jack's labored breathing and moved as swiftly toward him as he could in the dark.

Jack was taking longer than Ianto had for the neurons of response to kick back in after being short-circuited. His hands were trembling. Ianto cradled Jack's head in his lap and tried whispering. His vocal chords made short sounds like an old Chevy Astro turning over. Ianto then tried to bring a little bit of feeling back into Jack's hands. Jack watched with mild interest as his head was buried in Ianto's chest and Ianto began to rub the veins protruding from Jack's hand.

_Let me be your freedom,  
let daylight dry your tears.  
I'm here with you, beside you,  
to guard you and to guide you..._

It began to work. Jack could feel the burning, debilitating fog of sensation leaving his body. He looked up toward Ianto and began to stutter out a thank you when he caught the sound of footsteps. Ianto felt Jack grab onto his left arm and immediately understood the anxious state. Ianto didn't want to be separated either. It didn't occur to them that there might be something worse than being separated.

A shaft of pale light made Ianto hiss and Jack start back into a defensive position. He was beginning to think a little more clearly. The man was a little shorter than Ianto and a bald, gleaming shade of white. Both ears bore large warped plugs. His cut of a dangerous smile extended from one ear and ended sharply at the other.

"Are the compounds beginning to wear off? Good. This will make my job easier."

He moved with a purpose, his size betraying his strength. Jack was resigned after his grip lost Ianto's arm. The force of the slam made a thud against the steel beam his arms were stretched onto as well. Helvetian chains, marked with the slashing crest of the home world, snaked around his arms and across his chest, mere millimeters from his neck. He flared his nostrils and glared at the man as he beamed in Ianto's direction.

_Say you love me every waking moment,  
turn my head with talk of summertime...  
Say you need me with you now and always...  
Promise me that all you say is true  
that's all I ask of you_

"Don't worry Harkness. I hurt him and I get hurt. Pity though. Supreme pity."

The bald man licked his lips. Jack was forming the words in his mind when he saw several things enter the room that he didn't like. Three more bald men dressed in the robes of the Sashrin Order of the Cloth, mystic and often rebellious priests trademarked with brown and yellow muslin robes, hovered into the room. They did not blink. Their large black eyes were covered with a solution that left thick rings of slime in its wake.

"Ianto..."

"It's best if you don't talk."

"Don't make it worse...Jack..."

Ianto was tied in a sitting position using some strange clear rope that Jack couldn't identify. It seemed like flimsy tubing of some sort. It suctioned onto a dark area of the floor directly fourteen feet from Jack's reach. Ianto head was tied downward into his chest. One of the mystic men spritzed a bottle containing burnt sage and lavender onto his head. A second man placed a Feritian crown upon his head. The silver plait fit gently onto his temples and he cried out.

"No!"

"Jack, this is your only warning."

"Play nice peaches."

The voice came through the shadow. It was a resigned voice from a man whom Jack had only heard resigned once in the time loop. There was a frightening tinge to it when it was hollow.

Let me be your shelter  
let me be your light  
You're safe, No one will find you  
your fears are far behind you...

"John Hart!" The priests and the guard left at nearly the same second. Jack let his eyes adjust to the sallow light and put his best efforts torn away from Ianto into glaring. "You can't call me that anymore."

"And why not?" John seemed offended by the thought.

"Because I despise you and all you stand for."

"Funny that. I was good enough for you when we were partners, but give you a taste of the good side and Eye Candy and you go all noble..."

"Cut the crap, John. Why are you here?"

"Why not? I had traces of you on me, didn't I? Got picked up at Vesuvius while I was playing the tourist."

"Liar."

"Jack, let your eyes adjust."

It took just a moment for Jack to see. He was sprawled across an open iron maiden, just a crack of air moving from the opening. Enough to see one eye and a very bloody lip.

_All I want is freedom,  
a world with no more night  
and you, always beside me, to hold me and to hide me..._

"John...I..."

"I don't want to hear apologies. Ianto's got it worse than me."

"What do you mean?"

"How much do you know about that crown those screwed-up mystics were carrying?"

"Archeology never interested me."

"Jack, it's technology. It takes the person back into their most painful memories and replays them in perfect sequence. The wearer never sleeps and never eats with it on. It's a supposed device to train young monks. On Ianto's head it could become anything."

"Oh god. I have to..."

"Do what Harkness? How do you plan on saving him in those chains?"

"Just let me think of something."

"Right. Like love conquering bloody all? Come on, Harkness. Think. You think I'd just let them stick me here?"

"How long have you been on the ship?"

"Long enough to make a friend or two."

"And you'll get us out."

"For a price." He licked his lips as though he'd just had the most amazing cigarette in existence.

_Then say you'll share with me  
one love, one lifetime  
let me lead you from your solitude  
Say you need me with you here, beside you...  
anywhere you go, let me go too_

"John!" The words bellowed in frustrated echo.

"Okay, okay. Don't be so bloody dramatic. Oi! Water please!"

There was a man that drifted in. He was the pastiest of them all.

"You get no water."

"Estio valn tattiene belisto."

"Valn meeko tatti resqueme?"

"Oashi."

"What did you just tell him?"

Jack watched as the man passed through the iron maiden and John returned with him unscathed.

"All I had to tell him was that Ianto was the chosen of their planet."

"You lied?"

"How do you know he's not?"

"Well, that's all well and good John, but how does that help either of us?"

"I said we were his concubines."

Jack waited helplessly as the mystic man removed his chains and hesitated before Ianto. "Tell him it's not a crime or an imposition on his gods!"

"Calm down Jack. Just give the little bugger a minute."

"Don't tell me who to give a minute to! This is my Ianto that's chained in his worst memories."

"Your Ianto?"

Ianto threw himself into Jack's arm, breathing in his scent. "Jack, it was the worst..."

"Thing you've ever experienced!" He stroked Ianto's hair in warm silence, not really caring if they did get free of the dungeon now. As long as Ianto never wore that crown again.

"Can we save the cheerful reunion for later? We've got an opera barge to escape from!"

"Please, is there a servants' exit?" Ianto's question was met by a shocked stare and a scream. The being drifted through the wall, still screaming.

"What was that all about?"

"No time. Eye candy, did you memorize the layout? Good. You'll have to be the visual map."

"And what about me?"

"Well, we've got the brains and the beauty, so you'll be the brawn."

There was no brawn though. The corridors, the rest of the prison, all was empty. There were no sounds, music, movement or anything other than emergency lighting. The sweat of tension broke over Jack's face as they came to a section in the road marked with a lowercase t.

_Love me - that's all I ask of you  
Anywhere you go let me go too  
Love me - that's all I ask of you..._

"Which way?"

"Second on the left, Jack."

"No, we go right here. I remember."

"I do believe I was the brains."

"Yeah, but I know where I'm going."

"What are you trying to pull Hart?"

"I'm going right. You want to get caught again that's your own business." He moved off in a huff, bearing his teeth.

"We can't just let him go Jack."

"Why not?"

"He freed us. That information would be too valuable. Especially if we make it back to the Hub."

"Damn it. You're right. And who knows how much information Othello and his team of informants have. We can't leave John behind and risk it."

"How'd you ever get so smart?" Jack kissed Ianto.

"You gave me the hope I needed to realize it."

They groped along as a pair, not daring to call John's name in the dark. They reached a large open room. Ianto turned to Jack as he backed away from the wall.

"We've been here before Jack."

"How do you know?"

"It was a trap."

"It still is."

The lights returned to see Othello on his throne and John with no remorse across his face several steps below.

_Love me - that's all I ask of you  
Anywhere you go let me go too  
Love me - that's all I ask of you..._


	5. Chapter 5

"Gentlemen, you will have to excuse such rude treatment of yourselves. It seems you've been underestimated. Tricking the servants is quite a naughty thing to do though. And to expose my Hart to such anarchy." He made a clicking noise and shook his head. "Surely you know there are ...consequences...for such actions." Othello gripped his chair.

"What is your game?" Jack snarled at him.

"Game? Who said anything about a game? If you are to be part of my court then you must meet the rest of the deck. After all, a King of Spades and a Jack of Diamonds can't be stalwart to themselves, can they?"

"You're insane."

"That's what my mother called me, Jack of Diamonds. She and I had a difference of opinion."

"What are you going to do to us?"

"So many questions. I tire of such questions. I believe it is time to set the mood. John, take your place." Othello's voice was tinged with haunting irony as John crept towards the area behind the throne and stood, hands crossed over his chest. "Gentlemen, the court of Othello, new Emperor of the Shadow Alliance Proclamation and the Universal Czar."

The lights blinked themselves dark for only a moment. The shadows of Jack and Ianto became long and illuminated by the chandelier that began dropping slowly downwards. It cast a soft yellow glow as it cascaded down towards the stairs. It kissed them just briefly before it began its ascent. The mechanical whir of the androids came next. They were made of intertwined copper and held their arms aloft with perpetual candles. They wore laurels spiced with a noxious scent of mace.

_Masquerade!  
Paper faces on parade  
Masquerade!  
Hide your face, so the world will never find you!_

Each step was light, virtually non-existent in the echoing ballroom. The paintings had remained dark up until this time. An android took post at the side of each. What originally had been the face of Othello became a long passageway. These footsteps that met Jack's ears were even, almost as if they kept time.

One by one, pairs of dancers began to move through the paintings and into the room. Women dressed as fairies in glittering gowns. Men dressed in tuxedos of somber and irrepressible color. Each wore a mask over their eyes. Skin showed under the light as pale as death. No one acknowledged Jack or Ianto.

_Masquerade!  
Every face a different shade  
Masquerade!  
Look around - there's another mask behind you!_

"Jack, can you feel that?"

"Death."

"Quite right gentlemen. By now you've picked up on the uneasiness of the situation. It seems as though the Doctor was not the only one to escape the Time War. My crusade, my mission, is to fix the world and rid it of the poison pursued by the Doctor. Poison like you humans who just can't leave well enough alone. Join the dance, gentlemen, for this is your only option."

"You can't scare us."

"Can't I?" Othello rolled his fingers in his hand and three marbles cascaded away from him and down the stairs. "Oops."

"Stand away from whatever they are."

"Don't worry Jack. I have no intention of trying to find out what they are. I'm more concerned about the circle of dead masquerade dancers around us."

"Not exactly helpful, is it?"

"I wouldn't say so."

The marbles bounced to the bottom of the stairwell and laid motionless for a few seconds. The dancers continued to swarm and move around Jack and Ianto. The music swelled to crescendo. A long, piercing note moved through the crowd. The sound of a high-pitched flute made the marbles tremble. They began to change and move. What emerged from them was something like a hand and then a pair of hands. A torso followed with legs moving downward. The sickening pop of a head moving from the chest into place was the last.

_Flash of mauve . . .  
Splash of puce . . .  
Fool and king . . .  
Ghoul and goose . . ._

They were clearly not human. They were smooth like obsidian and snuck like dedicated guerrillas. Each hand, each finger was deadly. Each held a sword in their hand, made from the same dark material as themselves. There were holes for where their eyes should have been, but there was no soul or reasoning behind them. Ianto saw them coming. As they pushed the dancers aside, the skin began to melt from the body.

_Green and black . . .  
Queen and priest . . .  
Trace of rouge . . .  
Face of beast . . ._

"Don't let them touch you!"

"You've got to try and get out while you can. It's me he wants."

"Oh no you don't. I'm not leaving you here to defend yourself alone. I agreed to go to the end of the world with you Harkness. Some deranged madman in a tacky outfit isn't going to change that now."

Jack stopped. When was the last time Ianto had called him Harkness? Never. Was that how dire the situation was or was that how much he was changing, finally able to view himself as an equal? Jack shook his head. He'd think about it when they weren't in eminent danger. At least this week.

The sound of air swiped against Ianto's back and he jumped from it. The black being glared at him, or what could have been considered a glare. Ianto could easily duck the blow, but moving away from the first swipe cordoned him off from Jack as he moved through the dancers. The music stopped suddenly and the dancers began moving away from the main floor. That left Jack, Ianto, and three soulless war machine androids.

_Faces . . .  
Take your turn, take a ride  
on the merry-go-round . . .  
in an inhuman race . . ._

Ianto watched as Jack tried to move away from the blade of one while the other attacked from the side. He knelt quickly, the blade cutting a fraction of an inch of his hair. The second sword came down and he tried to catch it with his wrist before it hit the floor. The sound of burning flesh assaulted his nostrils. He stumbled forward to try and help Jack, who rolled out of the way of the soldiers grimacing and pointed to somewhere behind Ianto.

_Eye of gold . . .  
Thigh of blue . . .  
True is false . . .  
Who is who . . .?_

Ianto turned over his shoulder just in time to see the blade come down a fraction of an inch from him. I'm not dying in this suit, Ianto thought. He gaze swung around rapidly and then he caught an idea.

"Come and get me, yeah?"

"What are you doing Ianto?! The point is not to goad the killer's henchmen!"

Ianto crouched back toward the stairs and the android advanced upon him. He wiggled his fingers and smirked. He did a quick bit of calculation and then began advancing toward the throne. There was an audible gasp from the masqueraders, whom apparently weren't as dead as they thought. Jack addressed them as such.

_Curl of lip . . .  
Swirl of gown . . .  
Ace of hearts . . .  
Face of clown . . ._

"So you're just going to let him kill us like he did to all of you?! Think about it. The chance to save one of your own!" Jack's eyes fell upon one of the masked men. The stood stoically in place, waiting for the next dance. Hopeless, that's what they were.

Ianto made it to the sixth step before he tripped backwards. The android stopped a step before him. Time slowed as the saber raised above the android's body, ready to bury its deadly fang. Ianto swerved his body at the last second. The android tried to bring his sword down, but it was buried in the low-handing chandelier. Each second that passed was another second where some of the tubing, even as alien as it might have been, was melting against the sword. There was a flash of electricity and then the android halted.

_Faces . . .  
Drink it in, drink it up,  
till you've drowned  
in the light . . .  
in the sound . . ._

Sparks began to hiss and fly from the lit centerpiece. The android dropped and could only half form himself into a marble. His carcass tumbled back down the staircase. Ianto shielded his eyes as Jack moved under the chandelier and a second android fell from the sparks.

"I knew you'd think of something! I could just kiss you!"

"Now is not the time, Jack. More important things to do."

The third android was the sneakiest. By this time, the chandelier was flickering out. Too long and the robot would also have the advantage of absolute darkness. Ianto removed his vest and advanced towards the last menace. He gripped either side of the vest with his hands. The android surged forward and he caught the blade in the clothing. It began to burn and smell of singed cloth. There wasn't much time.

_Masquerade!  
Grinning yellows,  
spinning reds . . ._

Jack landed a full force kick in the midst of the android's back. He struggled as Jack and Ianto pulled him to the sparking chandelier. Ianto vest disintegrated cleanly down the middle as they stood under the chandelier. Jack watched with horror as the last part of the chain snapped and fell on the robot and Ianto.

_Masquerade!  
Take your fill -  
let the spectacle  
astound you!_

Ianto stood, stunned, watching his arm come completely off and then rebuild itself. Good to know that about one's appendages. He just hoped he'd never have to find out about his head. Jack barked at Othello.

"We won. Let us go."

"You think you've won? How very human. I am rather cross at you though. Those androids were quite expensive. Although the thought of executing a species such as yours filled with such ingenuity does thrill me. I will need time to think. You remember the dungeon, don't you?"

_Masquerade!  
Leering satyrs,  
peering eyes . . .  
Masquerade!  
Run and hide -  
but a face will  
still pursue you!_

Oh, bloody hell. That was the thought Jack had running through his mind as he felt a familiar surge of electricity rise through the floor and the world black out again.

_And what a masquerade!_


	6. Chapter 6

There was too much rage inside Jack for him to struggle, to speak. There was too much pain for him to utter a single curse against John Hart. The man had made a deal with the devil and he had been the soul. It stung too deep, like that silver dagger he had used to cut the man free during the Telluride deal. He should have shot him after he had gotten free of the box and they had been released from the weevil cages. There were so many things that could have prevented this.

_You were once  
my one companion . . .  
you were all  
that mattered . . ._

Jack failed to notice that he was being carried like a carton of eggs back to the cells. There were no plans left. They'd find a way to do him in after all this time and the Face of Boe would never be. It irked him how much that could change history, how much it might change everything. Doubt crept into his anger, fear its veritable companion. Fear for the future and fear for the present. Fear for Ianto.

_You were once  
a friend and father -  
then my world  
was shattered . . ._

Clearly, Othello was a maniac. There was no doubting it. The cruel, methodical devices he employed saw to that. The only thing Jack feared was the way his life would be afterwards. He would pray for Ianto. Pray that nothing would be like it was on the Valiant. Clearly this man was as dangerous as the Master. Thank God he wasn't a Time Lord. At least, that's what Jack hoped.

_Wishing you were  
somehow here again . . .  
wishing you were  
somehow near . . .  
Sometimes it seemed  
if I just dreamed,  
somehow you would  
be here . . ._

There was a dull thud that spread against his body as he lay there. Jack blinked in the darkness and Ianto didn't move, or couldn't. Sand could absorb electricity, but only to a certain extent. Enough pressure could turn sand into diamond. If that's what had happened then Ianto's insides might have been solidified. No more eating. No more breathing. No more Ianto.

_Wishing I could  
hear your voice again . . .  
knowing that I  
never would . . ._

No one bothered tying Jack up this time. He lay, struggling against his own nervous system, as they tied Ianto up. Something flowed now through the clear tubing tied to the floor, and to Ianto in a sitting position. It was water as far as Jack could tell. Ianto would live. Curse it all, thought Jack, I have to find a way. I can't let him be destroyed, not here. No one deserves it less.

_Dreaming of you  
won't help me to do  
all that you dreamed  
I could . . ._

John Hart gnawed on the chicken carcass in front of him. It was a banquet, lit by golden candles in wreaths around the table. The smell of spices and fresh laurel were all around him. But John Hart was a world away. Othello would laugh cruelly at his own joke and gales of testy laughter from his marionette court would echo in return. They had no minds, no souls. That is what would happen to the man he loved. If Jack was lucky. John had tried purring in Othello's ear so often. But Othello was a dangerous, obsessed man full of his own righteousness. He was bound to end the universe sooner than later.

_Passing bells  
and sculpted angels,  
cold and monumental,  
seem, for you,  
the wrong companions -  
you were warm and gentle . . ._

There was a black hole where John's stomach once lay. It wasn't satisfied but was beyond full. John could blink the tears away or even blame the smoke of the candles. But he couldn't forgive himself. Before Grey, he could have shrugged it off. Being the glamorous head bounty hunter for a league of deranged maniacs had always been a dream of his. But now it was a nightmare. Not even Eye Candy deserved what he saw in the crown. Even though he had won Jack's heart far and away.

_Too many years  
fighting back tears . . .  
Why can't the past  
just die?!_

John could no longer console himself with the plan. He hated what he had done. He tried not to leap from his seat and failed epically. His hands were wrenched behind his back, nails biting into skin to try and ease the pain. He felt the familiar stench of leather across his shoulders.

"You are sullen."

"It was difficult."

"But necessary."

"I understand the necessity of action, but why hurt Ianto?"

"He's part of it. The Doctor dragged the Earth into it. We have no choice, Hart. Surely you must see that. Return balance to the universe. Like before the war."

"You don't know what that man's done for me. To kill him..."

"Is a task I leave to you. John, you've never had trouble killing for me before. You stepped up after Deirdre. Gave us locations, plans, personality types. I thought I could trust you. Should I regret it?"

"No! No. It's just the last of my weakness for him. It will pass."

"That's a good knave. I believe tomorrow morning we will have the ceremony. And then, by your hand, Jack Harkness shall be no more. And the Chosen shall perish by thirds." Othello let out a little squeak of a giggle, coughed, and then returned to dinner. Hart left the room in complete silence, the vision of the Earth laid out before him. Poodle would never be able to do it on her own or even forgive him if John let them die. It was time to think of someone either than himself.

_Wishing you were  
somehow here again . . .  
knowing we must  
say goodbye . . ._

Jack struggled just enough that he could wag his chin against the floor and crawl towards Ianto half an inch. He screamed and bellowed, Ianto's name cascading in echo through the large dungeon. It was no use trying to free him. For all Jack knew the device would kill both of them. But he knew they'd both prefer death to what Ianto was going through right now. A morbid fascination crept into Jack as his eyes twitched. Could he reach Ianto at all? The best he could do was to keep screaming the young man's name.

_Try to forgive . . .  
teach me to live . . .  
give me the strength  
to try . . ._

John thought he heard the name during his tossing and turnings. The name rose bile through his throat. He loved the man and hated the actions he'd pursued. The only problem in getting away would be to disable the cameras. If he'd had a sonic screwdriver it all would have been moot. Of course, Jack didn't know that he knew of the technology, as primitive as it had been. Jack didn't have to know everything. He began working through the last moments of the plan before he drifted off and then began tossing a few moments later.

The blinking eye of the camera taunted him and he pursued it. A pulse of red light once every three seconds. A change in frame, a moment of dull feed. He'd never make it through the wall in three seconds. To remove the screws from the ventilation shaft would take time for movement and use. Unless he had to fix something. Othello knew he was a mechanic of his own devices. But nothing was broken, yet.

_No more memories,  
no more silent tears . . .  
No more gazing across  
the wasted years . . ._

There was no time to be suave. John leapt up, his sword hanging from the place beneath his jacket, slung ready and over the chair. He heard the familiar sliding sound as the sword left the sheaf and he smiled. Oh well, John shrugged, he was never known for his ability to be quiet anyways. Unceremoniously, he plunged the large silver weapon into his food and water console. There were several maddening sparks and then an alarm that accompanied it. Six seconds.

He could hear Jack as he crawled among the unpolished and oily ventilation tubing. Three levels down and twenty meters across. His hair was disheveled and his coat nearly in ruins from butting against the shaft. But it was worth it. The scene itself was too heartbreaking to miss. Jack struggling to move forward, grimacing each half inch. Ianto in a medicated stupor from the Sashrin crown. The eerie lack of light. It was delicious and painful at the same time. A voice inside of him wanted to leave Eye Candy. Jack would never forgive him, but then, he'd have no choice.

_Help me say  
goodbye._

"Hart!" The rage boiled in Jack's throat as he came down to the floor with a rolling crash and stood over the incapacitated body of Captain Jack Harkness.

"Miss me?"

"I will kill you."

"No. I don't think you will. Not when I have everything under control."

"What you're doing to us..."

"I've come to save you Jack."

"I'll never trust you again."

"You don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can free Ianto."

"Do it. Or by God, feeling in my body or no feeling..."

"I believe you. And I'd deserve it." His voice was hollow again and his eyes farther off still. "I don't want you to trust me. You don't have to. Just let me give you a chance to escape."

"What are you planning?"

"Something magnificent. Like always. First thing is your mobility. Seems that Othello recalibrated the electricity to affect you even more the second time. I was supposed to execute you tomorrow. However, that would put a major cramp in my plans. So take this."

"You really think I'm going to?"

"Choices, mate. And you don't have any left."

Jack swallowed and almost jumped up in surprise as a tingling antidote washed over him.

"It's made of Ianto's new biological signature. He absorbed so much of the electricity that he can't be human anymore, can he?"

"Fix him."

"Alright. I suppose I don't deserve an explanation then."

John grabbed onto the crown. Blood pierced his hands as captivation thorns surged through them. He made a silent howl with his face as he struggled against the pain and the stinging barbs. The sickly smell of laurel, leftover from dinner, wafted from his hands. He fell backwards as the crown clattered to the floor beside Ianto. He awoke woozy to Ianto standing over him. That was the last thing he remembered happening before Ianto's fist met his nose.


	7. Chapter 7

Bump. Bump. Bump. John blinked to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. One thing he could say about Eye Candy was that he could throw a punch. It felt as though he'd been hit with a stack of sand bags. He wanted to make a quip, but considering that he was being moved like a sack of potatoes over Jack's shoulder he let it go.

_You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge,  
in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent,  
silent . . ._

Jack was going to be pissed when he found out John was bleeding. He noted the fact that the color of his blood melded into the jacket and was nearly invisible. But Ianto would be sure to inform him of it. Lights blurred around him as John's vision moved in and out. He tried to concentrate over the anguish. He had a plan to fulfill. And it was all well and good to be this close to Jack again, but not in such events.

John began to wriggle before he fell unconscious again. It was almost like a replay of the earlier escape attempt, sans alarms and Hart almost being dropped on his head.

_I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge  
in your mind you've already succumbed to me_

"That really could have hurt you know."

"You're lucky we didn't leave you in that dungeon." Jack snarled back.

"Eye Candy didn't want to leave me behind?"

"Purely strategical. You've been to the Hub. You know more than the rest of you is worth." Ianto held his nose a bit away as though John smelled of something.

_dropped all defences completely succumbed to me -  
now you are here with me:  
no second thoughts, you've decided,  
decided . . ._

"I deserve that."

"You deserve a lot more." Jack was lashing back at him and John couldn't blame him. Ianto was a few shades farther pale than John had ever seen him.

"Fine. You want me to make amends. Then I'm going to give you that. But you have to trust me." John dug into his frayed coat and tossed something Jack's way.

_Past the point of no return -  
no backward glances:  
the games we've played till now are at an end . . ._

"How did you..."

"You thought I was going to leave the Hub without it? You're slowing up in your old age, Harkness." John snorted as Jack turned the wrist strap over his hands.

"How did you..."

"Just because you lock something away doesn't mean it's locked away for all time, Ianto."

_Past all thought of "if" or "when" - no use resisting:  
abandon thought, and let the dream descend . . ._

"You didn't call me Eye Candy."

"I must be slipping in my old age."

There was that hollow sound again in his voice. Jack didn't like that hollow sound. "No." It was a command, a request, a desperate bit. Jack knew John already was likely to do something and he wouldn't want to be a part of it.

_What raging fire shall flood the soul?  
What rich desire unlocks its door?  
What sweet seduction lies before us?_

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"This damn fool's gonna sacrifice himself." Jack pointed at John just to emphasize it, his finger shaking.

"And why shouldn't I? Don't I deserve to go out like a hero?"

"You deserve to..."

"To what, be put on trial? Go through the motions of humanity? I've seen the planet. I can save it. You think I'd just let them recapture you? How much of an idiot do you take me for?"

"Whatever you're planning to do, he'll see right through it."

"Just like the Earth."

_Past the point of no return,  
the final threshold -  
what warm, unspoken secrets  
will we learn?  
Beyond the point of no return . . ._

Ianto's face turned inward with its seriousness. "No. It's too risky."

"If he thinks the Earth is destroyed..."

"But..."

"No buts. If he thinks you've escaped and then turns a beam on me, I can make the Earth dissipate in the sky long enough to..."

"To what? You'll be dead and the Earth will reappear. It's a vicious cycle, Hart."

"And what else would you like to do? Just go to the bridge and watch the fire works and then head to the Shadow Proclamation. Lilith might have an army ready to fight him. You have to stop him Jack. You have to use her, your Doctor, anyone who can help. Othello has to be stopped."

Jack was quiet for just a second. "Which way is the bridge?"

_You have brought me to that moment where words run dry,  
to that moment where speech disappears into silence,  
silence . . ._

"Behind the throne."

"You miserable bastard...if this is a trap..."

"Use the perception filter on the wrist strap. Even for his advanced state, he'll never find you. I've programmed it to mask both your signatures."

"This was your plan all along." Jack's face flickered grotesquely for a moment.

_I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why  
In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining  
defenceless and silent -  
and now I am here with you:  
no second thoughts,_

"It had to be this way. We've had our fun. But now I have do the right thing. Go, Jack. Eye Candy, keep him safe."

Ianto nodded as John began to run down the hallway into the darkness. But Jack wouldn't move. John turned and shouted something. Jack felt numb as John was engulfed by the darkness. He didn't quite register Ianto tugging at his jacket.

_Past the point of no return - no going back now:  
our passion-play has now, at last, begun . . ._

They sneaked back into the dark, empty ballroom. The light in here was red, cascading and echoing through every shadow. The moved up the stairs silently and behind the throne. The panel was moved ever so slightly by a hinge near the throne.

_Past all thought of right or wrong -  
one final question: how long should we  
two wait, before we're one . . .?_

The illusion of the place disappeared as they passed the engine room. Whatever it was that kept the ship running glowed a brilliant shade of blue. It hummed and Ianto seemed mesmerized for an instant. The columns they passed sang to him.

The bridge looked like any mill of the run ship. The stainless steel look never really went out of style. Buttons glowed and hummed. A nondescript woman ran her fingers over them as Othello watched the Earth through the large screen. He sipped something from a martini glass that made Jack's throat go dry.

_When will the blood begin to race  
the sleeping bud burst into bloom?  
When will the flames, at last, consume us?_

"The end of the ants. A toast to them. Ingenious, caring, those poor bastards."

The woman's voice was as nondescript as her body and face. "Five minocrons until weapon release, sir."

"Very good. Savor this victory Maevon. It is the beginning of something much bigger than ourselves."

"Sir. We have a small ship coming out of the bay. Offensive signatures registering."

"Jack!"

"Not now, Ianto." Jack hissed as he watched a pod fall to the Earth and John's ship turn around. John Hart then appeared on the view screen.

"Captain. Sending the bodies back to Earth? Bad form letting Ianto free like that, although it is a nice little touch to add to his insanity. I approve."

"Sorry love. You've reached a wrong number. I'm John Hart. I'm not an errand boy. I'm a messenger. And I'm here to tell you that you picked the wrong species to mess with. Under the care of their physician, they are, and they'll be healed. Too bad for you."

"John?"

"I really did think what I wanted was to be the head elite bounty hunter. Bullocks to that. I'm going out as a hero."

"I'll still destroy the Earth and all its glory."

"I'm afraid you won't. Not with a refraction charge or two placed in orbit around you set to detonate the moment my craft is destroyed."

"You're bluffing."

"Try me."

"Two minocrons. Shall I fire?"

"Fire." His voice crackled with rage.

"Jack!"

_Past the point  
of no return  
the final threshold -_

The screen turned to fire in an instant. A part of Jack howled but Ianto's voice was insistent. He set his jaw and looked down to the younger man. "What."

"I've neutralized the engines and set them to explode."

"How?"

"The recalibration of my body. The electricity from the storm deactivated the energy inside of them. And the rest of the structure fused them to explode. The ship is going to tear itself apart. I hope there's one pod left."

_the bridge  
is crossed, so stand  
and watch it burn . . ._

"And we're going to make sure Othello doesn't get it. How long do we have?"

"Not long?"

"Ianto, we have to make a decision."

"The Shadow Proclamation."

"Are you ready for that?"

"I've almost been eaten by cannibals. I've had my memory wiped several times. I've watched my girlfriend die at the hands of the Cybermen. What could the universe offer that's worse?"

Jack smiled as Othello's voice rang with panic and rage. "I'm taking the warship."

"No you aren't."

Jack's fist met his face and he fell backwards into his chair. Ianto looked at the young woman. "You coming?"

"But...But I love him..."

_We've passed the point  
of no return_

Jack and Ianto ran fast. The ship was tearing itself apart. The buzzing noises of the alarms were replaced by the buzzing of the walls themselves. Jack entered the ship bay, after the young woman had calmed down enough to give them direction from the intersection, and grinned.

"Ianto, have you ever had a hyper vodka?" An old chula warship was the only thing left in the bay.


End file.
